Thirteen games were lost to the NBA lockout on Wednesday, bringing the total to 16 games over what would have been the first two nights of the season. I spent some of my evening reading over the play-by-play files of our Strat-O-Matic simulation, careful not to look at the game's score beforehand. I scrolled down from the opening tip as if I were watching an actual game unfold. While it certainly wasn't like listening to Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy call the Heat-Knicks game from Madison Square Garden, I found geeking out over the faux play-by-play more enjoyable than I probably should have. Teams went on runs. Players got hot, then disappeared. Stars got into foul trouble. Newcomers to NBA rosters were especially noticeable, from Ricky Rubio to Derrick Williams to Kyrie Irving. Is this all a sign of NBA withdrawal?

There were close games up and down the schedule. Six contests were decided by three points or less, and a handful came down to the last possession. It would have been nice to see an actual set of games like this, flipping from one LeaguePass channel to the next as the final seconds ticked away. Alas, I have tried to capture some of the excitement in my descriptions below.

That's how it all played out on the first full slate of Sim Season, our Strat-O-Matic simulation of the locked out 2011-12 season. We'll be doing this every day, so check back tomorrow for the results of tonight's action. You can follow me on Twitter for periodic updates on the night's action. Watch for the #simseason hashtag.

SUNS 95, THUNDER 93: The Thunder fell to 0-2 with another tough loss on the road in yet another nail-biter on an evening jam-packed with them. Vince Carter, who was not bought out of his contract in our magical universe, scored with 2:19 to play to bring the Suns within 93-92. Then no one scored for 1:32. In fact, Oklahoma City didn't score after the 2:41 mark. Finally, Carter hit a three with 47 seconds to play, putting Phoenix up by two. Russell Westbrook missed for Oklahoma City. Phoenix got the ball back and ran down the clock until Channing Frye was hit with an offensive foul with 11 seconds remaining. With one final chance, all the Thunder could muster was a desperation shot by Serge Ibaka at the buzzer. After going 8-of-27 in the opener, Westbrook shot 5-of-15 from the floor. Carter led Phoenix with 19 points and hit four three-pointers. In reality, there is no way Carter will play for the Suns this season--whenever it begins--but on Wednesday, fans of the virtual Suns were glad he was still around.

NETS 97, WIZARDS 95: Another fantastic finish. Deron Williams led an 11-0 Nets run that knotted the score in the third quarter and set up a tight finish. Nick Young scored off the fastbreak and a couple of possessions later, Rashard Lewis scored in the lane to put the Wizards up 95-94 with 22 seconds to play. Williams drove and kicked out to Travis Outlaw, who drained a three with four seconds left, putting the Nets up by two. Washington coach Flip Saunders called timeout and ran a play for Young, who took the inbounds, passed to Jan Vesely, who kicked to John Wall. Wall took and missed a jumper. Vesely rebounded but couldn't get a shot back up and that was ballgame. Brook Lopez scored 26 for the Nets and Williams added 25. Kris Humphries took out his recent frustrations by grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds.

SPURS 85, BUCKS 75: The Bucks led by 10 at the half but the Spurs went on an 18-4 third quarter run and throttled the Bucks' offense, holding Milwaukee to 24 second-half points. It was an all-too-familiar scene for Bucks fans, who hope that the addition of Stephen Jackson will mean a more consistent offense. Not on this night. Jackson "led" Milwaukee with 13 points but needed 21 shots to get there. Brandon Jennings had a strong first quarter but finished 4-of-16 from the floor. The usual suspects and formulas led the Spurs' victory.

KNICKS 94, HEAT 91: Watching LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony trade baskets while scrolling the first quarter play-by-play kind of made me ache for the real thing. It was a remarkable quarter as Anthony (15) and Amar'e Stoudemire (14) combined for all of New York's points, but the Knicks still trailed 30-29. The teams traded runs for the next 2 1/2 quarters and the game was tied 81-81 with 6:25 to play. A Dwyane Wade flurry gave the Heat a six-point lead. Anthony and Stoudemire responded by leading a 10-point run that was capped by Landry Fields' three to put New York up 90-88 with 54 seconds to play. In my mind, I saw Spike Lee dancing in circles and chirping at James heading into a timeout. Wade converted a traditional three-point play with nine seconds left, but Stoudemire hit two free throws with two seconds left to put New York back up by three. Miami couldn't get a shot off at the end. Stoudemire's 36 points led all scorers and his 14-of-16 showing from the line was directly related to Chris Bosh fouling out.

CLIPPERS 105, GRIZZLIES 102: Mo Williams scored 11 first-quarter points as the Clippers raced to a 37-24 lead and never looked back, leading by double digits until the final minutes. Memphis scored a couple of buckets in the waning seconds to make the score look better cosmetically, but it was never really a contest. Rudy Gay scored 31 points in his first game since he was injured last spring, but the paint-dominant Grizzlies were outscored 28-22 in the lane. Zach Randolph scored just six points because of foul trouble.

LAKERS 124, WARRIORS 107: The Lakers seemed poised to pull away early before Monta Ellis exploded for 15 points in less than four minutes to begin the second quarter, giving him 24 points in less than 16 minutes for the half. Alas, he soon picked up his third foul and spent the rest of the first half on the pine. The Warriors actually led at the break, but the second half was all L.A., which poured in 71 points after the break to improve to 2-0. Ellis finished with 37 points to led all scorers and Stephen Curry added 31 for Golden State. The Lakers got 29 points from Pau Gasol, 22 from Andrew Bynum and 20 from Kobe Bryant and outscored Golden State 46-20 in the paint.

PISTONS 110, PACERS 94: Brandon Knight capped a 17-2 Detroit run with a three-pointer at the end of the third quarter to put the Pistons up 78-68. But the Pacers' Danny Granger answered by reeling off eight points to start the fourth. Detroit's Charlie Villanueva then went off, scoring all 10 points of a 10-2 burst, including two three-pointers. Villanueva hit another three later in the quarter to put the Pistons up by 10 and Detroit cruised to the easy win. Villanueva erupted for 26 points in just 17 minutes. Granger led all scorers with 28 points.

ROCKETS 98, KINGS 96: Kevin Martin scored seven of his game-high 28 points during the final two minutes as the Rockets evened their record at 1-1. After J.J. Hickson's free throw put Sacramento up 94-93 with 1:18 to play, Martin hit a three and scored in transition, putting Houston up by four with 31 seconds to play. DeMarcus Cousins scored to cut the lead to two and the Kings got the ball back after a Martin miss. Paul Westphal set up a play for Tyreke Evans, who ended up facing down Chuck Hayes on a switch. Evans drove but missed, Luis Scola rebounded and that was it. Jimmer Fredette struggled in his first NBA game, scoring two points and going 0-of-6 from the field in 30 minutes.

CELTICS 88, CAVALIERS 86: Great finish as the veteran Celtics staved off Cleveland's upset bid at the Garden. In a back-and-forth tussle, top overall draft pick Kyrie Irving hit a three-pointer then scored in transition to put the Cavs up 80-77 with 5:04 left. The teams traded points down the stretch. Anderson Varejao scored inside to put Cleveland up 86-84 with 1:10 to play. Ray Allen tied the score with a jumper at the 59 second mark. Kevin Garnett rebounded an Antawn Jamison miss, threw an outlet to Rajon Rondo, who found a cutting Garnett with a great pass. Garnett's layup with 26 seconds left put Boston up two. Cleveland took a timeout and ran a play for Baron Davis, who couldn't shake loose. Jamison ended up with the ball inside, missed, and Rondo snagged the rebound to seal the win. It was a nice debut for Irving, who posted a game-high 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and added seven assists.

HORNETS 95, BULLS 94: New Orleans held off a furious rally when Taj Gibson missed the front end of a two-shot foul with two seconds left. The Hornets led by 12 after Willie Green's fastbreak layup with 7:43 left but Chicago responded with an 11-3 run to climb back into the game. Gibson scored at the rim with 31 seconds left to cut the lead to two, then Derrick Rose stole the ball from Chris Paul in the waning seconds to give the Bulls a shot at overtime. Gibson was fouled by David West, but made only one free throw when he had to have two. Rose led Chicago with 24 points, down from 41 in Chicago's opening win at Dallas, and handed out just two assists. West, who in our sim-verse is back with the Hornets and recovered from his ACL tear, led all scorers with 36 points.

BOBCATS 90, MAGIC 86: Corey Maggette's three-pointer just after the start of the fourth quarter capped an 11-point Charlotte run that put the Bobcats in position to pull off the upset. Jason Richardson's three with 18 seconds left pulled Orlando within two, but the Magic had a hard time committing a foul, finally sending Maggette to the line with three seconds left. He hit both shots to seal the win. Maggette led all scorers with 27 points in his first game as a Bobcat. Kemba Walker had seven points and three assists in 22 minutes in his NBA debut, while fellow Charlotte rookie Bismarck Biyombo matched Walker with seven points in 22 minutes but added six boards and three blocks. Dwight Howard's foul trouble limited him to 12 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes.

HAWKS 103, TIMBERWOLVES 95: Kirk Hinrich keyed a 13-0 run with three fastbreak buckets as the Hawks overcame an 11-point deficit in the third quarter. Atlanta outscored Minnesota 24-6 in transition, spoiling Rick Adelman's first game as coach of the Wolves. Spaniard Ricky Rubio had 10 points and five assists in his first game stateside. Minnesota rookie Derrick Williams had five points, four rebounds and five assists in 24 minutes but also committed three turnovers.

76ERS 94, RAPTORS 90: Leandro Barbosa scored 18 points, 12 in the second quarter, leading Toronto to a 50-39 halftime lead. Philly rallied to trim the lead to two by the end of the third, maintaining the night's theme of close encounters. Jrue Holiday and Andrea Bargnani traded baskets in the middle part of the fourth, with Holiday reeling off 10 points in one 3 1/2 minute stretch. That keyed a 16-6 run, putting Philadelphia up six with 3:04 to play, and the Sixers held on for the road win. Holiday led all scorers with 23 points. Barbosa and Bargnani scored 20 apiece for Toronto, which led by as many as 17 points. Nevertheless, the Raptors dropped Dwane Casey's debut as head coach.

GLOSSARY+/- (Plus-Minus) Raw data is from official box scores from NBA.com.GR (Game Rating) Reflects a player's Points Created total, or the portion of his team's offense for which he gets credit based on his box score line. This number is then adjusted for estimated defensive performance based on box score counterpart productivity. GR is pace-adjusted so you can compare players from game to game.PCP (Points Created Per Possession Used) An estimate of each player's points created per possession used, a measure of offensive efficiency. The stat accounts for a player's entire box score line, not just the scoring categories.PLY% (Play percentage) An estimate of the percentage of a team's possessions on which the player was on the court.USG An estimate of how many of those plays a player used by shooting, going to the line or committing a turnover, with a portion the team's offensive rebound total subtracted.TEAM STATS
PACE: Estimated possessions in the game.
ORTG: A team's points per 100 possessions.
eFG%: Team's shooting percentage with an extra half-point added for each made three-point field goal.
oRB%: Percentage of a team's misses that they retrieved off the offensive glass.
TO%: Percentage of a team's possessions resulting in a turnover.
FTA%: Percentage of a team's possessions resulting in a trip to the foul line.

Bradford Doolittle is an author of Basketball Prospectus.
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